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Winter squash is in season and one that I do not use nearly often enough is spaghetti squash so when I came across the idea of a lasagna stuffed spaghetti squash I pinned it right away to try later! Lasagna is a layered pasta dish typically containing noodles, a meat sauce and a cheese or bechamel sauce and it is topped with plenty of cheese and baked until golden brown and bubbling. This lasagna stuffed spaghetti squash takes the basic components of lasagna including the meat sauce and the cheese layer and stuffs them into a spaghetti squash, which essentially replaces the noodles, and bakes them until the cheese has melted. Since this dish goes with healthy spaghetti squash instead of noodles I decided to keep things on the lighter side going with ground turkey for the meat and a low fat cottage cheese for the cheese layer. Even though this lasagna stuffed spaghetti squash is designed to be healthier it certainly does not sacrifice anything in the way of flavour! You will definitely not miss the noodles in this tasty lasagna!

For the lasagna stuffed spaghetti squash:

directions

For the roasted spaghetti squash:

Brush the inner flesh of the spaghetti squash with oil, season with salt and pepper and roast, skin side up, in a preheated 400F/200C oven until tender, about 30 minutes.

For the lasagna meat sauce:

Meanwhile, cook the turkey, about 8-10 minutes, and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat, add the onion and cook until tender, about 5-7 minutes.

Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, and fennel and cook until fragrant, about a minute.

Add the turkey, tomatoes, tomato paste, italian seasoning, bay leaf, paprika, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the spaghetti squash is cooked and then mix in the basil and remove from heat.

For the lasagna stuffed spaghetti squash:

Fluff up some of the inside of each spaghetti squash half, divide the mixture of the cottage cheese and basil between them followed by the sauce and the cheese.

Broil in the oven until the cheese has melted and turned a light golden brown, about 2-3 minutes.

Option: Use ground beef or Italian sausage instead of ground turkey.Option: Instead of making the sauce from scratch, use your favourite marinara or other tomato sauce.Option: Add one 2 inch piece of parmesan rind to the sauce while it simmers.

I just made this tonight. It is fantastic, seriously this is very good. The flavors and texture are beautifully blended and complementary. Thank you so very much for this recipe. Also I've made your pumpkin casserole about a half a dozen time and it is always a hit.

I would like to make this, but a little or a lot less fat, so besides taking out the turkey and adding a green pepper chopped and fresh mushrooms, does anyone have any other recommendations? Has anyone ever used fat free ricotta (assuming there is such a thing) or fat free cottage cheese when cooking? Those are about all the things I could think of. Kevin, anyone, ideas please? Thank you so much!!!

I just made this and it's DELICIOUS! Even my three year old is gobbling it hurriedly. We're a GF household and this absolutely beats buying those expensive and bland rice noodles. It's got a nice homemade taste without the hefty calorie load, and bonus--it's very nutritious. Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! I'm adding it to my monthly rotation!

This was amazing! My husband and I devoured it and will make this again. Beautiful on the plate but comforting too. I have larger squash and will cook mine a little longer next time. Thanks for this recipe. It will be in our family forever. xoxo

Great idea! I made it last night and it was pretty good but the spaghetti squash portion lacked flavor. I'm making it again tonight and I'm going to mix some sauce with the spaghetti squash, then layer ricotta, then more sauce, put that back in the oven for about 20 minutes, then do the mozzerella and put is in for 5 minutes. I think that will get more flavor throughout.

This is genius. I made it last night for my family. Because I only had one huge spaghetti squash, I just cut it in half and filled each half with all the ingredients. When it was completely done, I cut each half....in half....haha. It was more than enough for my family of four with huge appetites. Even my picky eater gobbled it up. Thanks for an awesome recipe. Can't wait to try it with different fillings.

This dish was absolutely delicious! Full of flavor and healthy at the same time. I only changed a couple of things, I used olive oil infused with garlic and use marinara sauce instead of the ingredients listed. I made this twice for company and it was very well received. Thanks so much for the recipe.

I just made this with a jarred sauce base and without meat. It was absolutely amazing and a great use for spaghetti squash! My family loved it, which surprised me because they are typically very picky!

captiveinflorida: Most of the calories are coming from the turkey so you can cut back on the turkey, say 1/2 pound, or replace it with something like veggies, chickpeas, etc. The cheese is the next biggest calorie contributor and you can cut back on that as well.

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About Me

I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.